A kooky kid finds a new family

Some people have lucky numbers; others have lucky stars. Holly Goldberg Sloan credits her career change, and her subsequent success as an author of children’s books, to something a little different: a lucky shrimp.Alas, said shellfish wasn’t so felicitous for Sloan’s husband. But for her, it touched off a life-changing...

Deep focus on a shadowy filmmaker

After the soaring critical and commercial success of her first novel, Special Topics in Calamity Physics, it took Marisha Pessl quite a while to settle into the creation of her moody, boldly ambitious new novel Night Film.No, it wasn’t anxiety about the so-called sophomore jinx, Pessl says during a call to her writing studio. On the phone,...

A Seattle orphan explores his past

Jamie Ford conducted his interview with BookPage while crouched on the floor of the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport, seeking good cell reception and a pocket of quiet. While he briefly worried he might look like a homeless person lying on the floor of an international airport, he more or less embraces the whirlwind that comes with life on the...